RECONNECTING
I want to share a reconnecting experience I had just yesterday. As most of you know, my mom Eletha Hinds Johnston battled with cancer for about 15 years. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1999 and had surgery. Three years after her mastectomy, the doctors were pretty sure they had found cancer in her lymph nodes this time. She had a biopsy in 2002 and found she had non-Hoskins lymphoma. She had enlarged lymph nodes all over her body. She started having chemo treatments in about 2005. Through all of this cancer her oncologist was Doctor Jennifer Trottman. Doctor Trottman's office was then in the St. John's Medical Center Building in Tulsa. Mom started taking her treatments there. Later Dr. Trottman moved to the Oklahoma Oncology Specialists at 128th and Garnett in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Most of her early doctors appointments and treatments she had a good friend Betty Brunson Eddy, that was with her for all of those. Mom didn't want to bother us kids with her problems, since we all had families of our own to take care of. So we were not much involved in mom's doctors appointments and chemo treatments. I was the one furthest away from her. Both my brother and sister lived in Claremore, where she lived. Once in a while, when Betty had another appointment and couldn't take mom, my brother would take off of work in Tulsa drive to Claremore and pick mom up and take her to her treatments back in Tulsa at Saint John's Medical Center. He doesn't deal well with hospitals, so he would take and drop mom off for her treatments and then come back and pick her up and take her home.
I didn't take her to appointments nor treatments. I was never asked to. So I had no idea what a person went through to take treatments. They usually took about 3 to 4 hours. You sat in a chair and they would give you the chemo treatment through an IV. Later mom had a port put in and that was much easier for her. What am I doing? This is not a story about my mom and her cancer road of treatments. It is about a reconnection with someone that was there for my mom.
When I took over my mom's care in about 2011, I began taking her to her doctors appointments and chemo treatments. Dr. Trottman had moved to 128th Street off of Garnett by this time. She went there for both her doctor visits and her chemo treatments. We met a very nice nurse there named Rene' Chaisson. She was a very nice sweet and caring nurse that my mom and l liked very much. She gave me her name and said she was on facebook to look her up. I tired to a time or two without any luck. Then I kind of forgot and laid the note aside with her name on it. Mom passed away in December of 2014. I wanted to let her know. I am not sure I found her on facebook to tell her.
Life goes on and you put aside notes and think I will look that up again one day soon, but you never do. I had to clean out papers from under my computer desk the other day. I decided to look through some of them and get rid of ones that I would probably never read again. I have to much stuff and probably will never go through them again. Guess what I found? That piece of paper with Rene' name on it. I had came across it once before but could never find her on facebook. I set the paper by my keyboard and decided later I would try to look her up again.
The very next day I looked over and there was the note. So I went to facebook and typed in her name never thinking I would find her. To my surprise there was her name and picture. Problem was there were about 3 profiles of three different Rene's. How was I going to decide which one was her? I looked at each one and looked at her picture. I then looked on her timeline and saw she was from Texas, not Tulsa. I think she lived in Broken Arrow at the time she worked for Dr. Trottman. I did remember however, she was from Texas. I saw she was still in cancer treatment, so I decided it must be her. I sent her a friends request and sent her a message if she remembered me and my mom. Wow it was her. I was ecstatic. I had finally found Rene after about four years. Praise God.
I believe God is in every part of our lives that we let him be in. I used to think it was silly for me to bother him with my little prayers. Prayers about everyday things. I continued to pray them and many he did answer the way I was hoping for. I believe God was guiding me to finding Rene. So now I praise God for re-connecting me to Rene. I pray God will continue to bless her and her nurse career in cancer treatment. God Bless you Rene Chaisson.
*Starlight*
Most of her early doctors appointments and treatments she had a good friend Betty Brunson Eddy, that was with her for all of those. Mom didn't want to bother us kids with her problems, since we all had families of our own to take care of. So we were not much involved in mom's doctors appointments and chemo treatments. I was the one furthest away from her. Both my brother and sister lived in Claremore, where she lived. Once in a while, when Betty had another appointment and couldn't take mom, my brother would take off of work in Tulsa drive to Claremore and pick mom up and take her to her treatments back in Tulsa at Saint John's Medical Center. He doesn't deal well with hospitals, so he would take and drop mom off for her treatments and then come back and pick her up and take her home.
I didn't take her to appointments nor treatments. I was never asked to. So I had no idea what a person went through to take treatments. They usually took about 3 to 4 hours. You sat in a chair and they would give you the chemo treatment through an IV. Later mom had a port put in and that was much easier for her. What am I doing? This is not a story about my mom and her cancer road of treatments. It is about a reconnection with someone that was there for my mom.
When I took over my mom's care in about 2011, I began taking her to her doctors appointments and chemo treatments. Dr. Trottman had moved to 128th Street off of Garnett by this time. She went there for both her doctor visits and her chemo treatments. We met a very nice nurse there named Rene' Chaisson. She was a very nice sweet and caring nurse that my mom and l liked very much. She gave me her name and said she was on facebook to look her up. I tired to a time or two without any luck. Then I kind of forgot and laid the note aside with her name on it. Mom passed away in December of 2014. I wanted to let her know. I am not sure I found her on facebook to tell her.
Life goes on and you put aside notes and think I will look that up again one day soon, but you never do. I had to clean out papers from under my computer desk the other day. I decided to look through some of them and get rid of ones that I would probably never read again. I have to much stuff and probably will never go through them again. Guess what I found? That piece of paper with Rene' name on it. I had came across it once before but could never find her on facebook. I set the paper by my keyboard and decided later I would try to look her up again.
The very next day I looked over and there was the note. So I went to facebook and typed in her name never thinking I would find her. To my surprise there was her name and picture. Problem was there were about 3 profiles of three different Rene's. How was I going to decide which one was her? I looked at each one and looked at her picture. I then looked on her timeline and saw she was from Texas, not Tulsa. I think she lived in Broken Arrow at the time she worked for Dr. Trottman. I did remember however, she was from Texas. I saw she was still in cancer treatment, so I decided it must be her. I sent her a friends request and sent her a message if she remembered me and my mom. Wow it was her. I was ecstatic. I had finally found Rene after about four years. Praise God.
I believe God is in every part of our lives that we let him be in. I used to think it was silly for me to bother him with my little prayers. Prayers about everyday things. I continued to pray them and many he did answer the way I was hoping for. I believe God was guiding me to finding Rene. So now I praise God for re-connecting me to Rene. I pray God will continue to bless her and her nurse career in cancer treatment. God Bless you Rene Chaisson.
*Starlight*
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